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Fantastic to read such things....and I'm glad you posted this because I had read about this upcoming trial elesewhere but it didn't mention if this was a theapeutic or preventive vaccine, this article states it's both.....just fantastic.

The day is getting closer!!!!!!!!!!!

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"Hope is my philosophy Just needs days in which to beLove of Life means hope for meBorn on a New Day" - John David

Thanks for that one. Looks like this has some legitimacy given that a Korean firm is willing to make a substantial investment to get trials underway. I'm still waiting for news about the Ensoli vaccine which we should get within the next 9 months or so.

"This vaccine can cure the HIV infected," Kang said. "It has the potential of saving millions of lives," said Kang.

"This is our hope."

That is quite a statement! Of course it wouldn't be a cure...it'd just teach our bodies to fight the virus if it works as stated. We could still infect others. Of course, if they were vaccinated then we couldn't.

It'd be quite a day if EVERYONE was vaccinated and I could date willy nilly no big deal, "I have HIV, but there's nothing to worry about since you've been vaccinated". That'd be nice.

I often wonder if a vaccine that could cure HIV/AIDS will ever become available even if they did have the ability to make one in the future. All the pharma companies selling haart would lose millions of dollars from a loss in sales of anti-hiv meds from people that were "cured" and no longer need those daily meds. It wouldn't be in their best interest financially. Anyway, conspiracy theories aside, like everyone else though, I live in hope of a cure, or at the very least, the next big breakthrough.

I often wonder if a vaccine that could cure HIV/AIDS will ever become available even if they did have the ability to make one in the future. All the pharma companies selling haart would lose millions of dollars from a loss in sales of anti-hiv meds from people that were "cured" and no longer need those daily meds. It wouldn't be in their best interest financially. Anyway, conspiracy theories aside, like everyone else though, I live in hope of a cure, or at the very least, the next big breakthrough.

Yeah, I think this as well. I do like that this is coming from Korea and hopefully there will be enough distance internationally to allow this Doctor to do the research he needs to see if this will work. Of course, I'm sure there will be some strange side effects like every other thing we put in our bodies thanks to this virus and the pharma companies can sell medicine for those. I've joked with my wife about the cost of the hiv meds and how much a "cure" would cost. I'm estimating $100,000, lol. I would gladly take a loan for the amount in that event.

A long-sought vaccine to treat the scourge of AIDS and a possible link between food and autism are creating a buzz in the global medical community thanks to London research.HIV/AIDS: A big day for area researchersJoe Matyas The London Free Press October 18, 2006

It may be called Curovax, maybe not.

BREAKTHROUGH: Medical researcher Dr. Yong Kang, right, in his lab at the UWO Siebens Drake Research Centre with Dr. Dong Joon Kim, president of Curocom Co. Ltd., are heralding a vaccine for AIDS. (MORRIS LAMONT/The London Free Press)

Whatever it's named, it could be the HIV/AIDS treatment for which the world has been waiting.

A vaccine developed at the University of Western Ontario is one step away from being tested on humans, it was announced Oct. 17.

Thousands of researchers around the world have been working on HIV/AIDS treatments, "but (Western professor Dr. Yong) Kang is the only one who's made it this far," said Ted Hewitt, Western's vice-president of research.

Everything is in place to manufacture and test the vaccine, except for approval for clinical trials from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, said Kang, the leader of a team of researchers who spent 19 years and $7 million developing the vaccine.

"We're expecting we can have approvals for Phase 1 human trials within one year," Kang said.

The vaccine has been successfully tested in macaque and rhesus monkeys and holds the promise to be "useful" in both the prevention and treatment of AIDS, said Kang.

"God willing," he said. "Perhaps we can cure HIV infection. This is our hope."

A U.S. patent has been issued, a U.S. manufacturer engaged to make the vaccine and a Korean company has secured the market rights to it, said Kang.

"We need $45 million to $50 million to complete our human trials. You cannot fund that through research grants. That's why we needed an industrial partner."

Curocom Co. Ltd., a Korean company with divisions specializing in biotechnology, information technology and venture capital, is setting up a subsidiary in Canada to test, market and distribute the vaccine.

Dr. Dong Joon Kim, president of Curocom, said the company has already spent $20 million to procure the rights to Kang's vaccine and will invest another $50 million in the human trials process.

The company came on board because the vaccine already has patents in 34 countries and because of Kang's international reputation as a virologist and researcher, he said.

Kang said it's premature to say the vaccine will be a smashing success, "but we certainly hope and believe it will be successful."

Following FDA approval, the vaccine will be tested on 30 humans in the first phase and about 300 in a second phase to determine its safety and effect.

"We need people who are immuno-competent," Kang said. "We will have no trouble recruiting volunteers."

By immuno-competent, Kang means people infected with HIV, but not showing signs of AIDS. Kang said the vaccine could be available for such treatment in three years and as an AIDS prophylactic in six years.

Kang said the vaccine was developed using techniques similar to those used by Jonas Salk in his polio vaccine.

It's a whole-virus vaccine approach intended to neutralize HIV and attack it on three levels, he said.

The vaccine uses a combination of killed HIV virus, plus a virus genetically altered in the lab to carry the harmless HIV cells through the body to prompt an immune response.

AIDS has killed 25 million people since it was discovered in 1981 and as many as 43 million people are currently infected with HIV, Kang said.

Well I think HAART would still be necessary to keep the immune system in good condition until you receive the vaccine. People with suppressed immunity would have to start first on HAART until their immune system works again and then receive the vaccine.

Of course it wouldn't be a cure...it'd just teach our bodies to fight the virus if it works as stated.

I am not so sure of this statement. I mean, although probably true, and only the results of the trial will tell, I didn't see this anywhere on the article. On the contrary, I think the article makes it clear they are going for outright erradication:

"We created a genetically modified HIV virus. It converts white blood cells and then those cells find the infected cells and kill the virus in them," Kang explained.

Now don't get me wrong, a therapeutic vaccine that would make hiv a latent, non-manifested, non-progressive disease would be a cause for celebration, obviously, especially if, as you said, it could innoculate a negative person so that they don't get infected. These two things would, for practical purposes, act as a cure. But I don't get the sense, (from the admitedly limited information derived from two press article) that Dr. Kang and his team are working on the premise of this being solely a treatment. I think they feel there is a good chance this could cause the body to produce an immune response that could kill all infected cells in the body, thereby curing the person, thus his statements.

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"Hope is my philosophy Just needs days in which to beLove of Life means hope for meBorn on a New Day" - John David

guys please you have to control you hype...this vaccine approach(whole killed virus) has been reviewed time after time (the latest being REMUNE) and it was SOOOO inefficient.but there is hope.....like the merck gag/pol/nef vaccine or even the VRC vaccine (similar to the merck one by the way except that this one has a DNA primer, and adenovirus booster, while the merck one is just a series of shots of the adenovirus).And these vaccines actually have the support of IAVI and HVTN...the two most prominent organisation seeking a vaccine.http://www.hvtn.org/media/kuow.htmlso guys control you hype but never stop HOPING !!!!!!!!CHEERS, -PAUL

Paul: thanks for the SUGGESTION of controlling our "hype", but I don't see that anyone here was actually hyping this up. Hoping, yes (and by the way thanks for your advice to do so, it never would have occured to me) but no hype.

I think our discussion centered around the comments from Dr. Kang himself, and also the fact that this Korean company has decided to put down $50 million to carry out the trials. I think this says much.

Also, don't you think that Dr. Kang is aware of those previous failures? It doesn't make sense that he would follow the same path of those previous inefficient methods. J.

I'm not privy to the specifics on this study but as this vaccine it reported to use the whole virus, I suspect that researchers and/or those in government who approved this for testing felt it was safer to begin with a population that was already infected.

I participated in the AIDSVAX trial years ago and the big thing researchers repeated over and over again to me and to others they tried to get in the study was that there was no risk of infection from the vaccine. That vaccine used a single synthetic protein. Since this one uses dead virus, I'm sure they have similar concerns.

i think a reason we are giving this a lot of atttention is because its focus is primarily a therapeutic vaccine, and this is the reason we specifically are getting our hopes up, and nothing is wrong with that, i feel better mentally with this little ray of hope which probably helps me better overall.

i dont really buy into the idea of pharmaceutical companies knowing a cure but wanting to make money off HIV drugs instead, especially when the investment in this siutation is from Asia, which in theory will be crippled with an increasing HIV population as opposed to say the UK whose HIV population is marginal in comparison.

i also dont buy into the idea that this is a failed approach, the article states development has been ongoing for nearly 20 years, and we wont get progress unless we try something.

i dont really buy into the idea of pharmaceutical companies knowing a cure but wanting to make money off HIV drugs instead

Hey Hussy I don't buy into that either, cynical old me thinks they might blur their data to the upside so as to qualify for more dollars.And you do make a good point of 20 years in the making for this attempt.

With the likes of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates involved in this disease, two very prominent results oriented people, I truly believe our day of rejoice is more than a dream.

Enough pom-pom cheerleading for me.Must run and get busy living. Good day all

I agree with you as well Hussy....nothing ventured nothing gained. Afterall, the company who discovers a vaccine/cure will make billions. That in itself is a money maker already. Hopefully something good will come out of this study.

Even if this one falls by the wayside like so many other attempts, I believe there are two recent positives going for us (no pun intended)... the first that SHIV has been modified to better mimic HIV so that vaccines could be more quickly and predictably tried in monkeys. I doubt this vaccine has been tested against monkeys infect with "modified" SHIV. The second is that the Gates Foundation is setting up a world wide database for vaccine researchers receiving foundation grants so they can better share information. Rather than Big Pharmas "patent and compete" philiosophy, this is an attempt to garner cooperation among researchers. Now .... hopefully... they have the conscience to leave their egos behind and unite behind a struggle for the common good.

I belive the cure will come!! Its in everyones best interest to cure hiv. Millions of people every year are being infected. something must happen. Whoever comes up with the cure will be very rich and well respected. Its probibly in the best interest for the pharma companies to get behind a cure. Cause if they dont they will loose out in the end.